Monday, October 29, 2012

Five days after the publication of a distorted headline which was picked up by numerous international media outlets, Ha'aretz today published a clarification. In the last several days, numerous critics, including CAMERA, have weighed in about Ha'aretz's coverage of the Dialog poll, including the false headlines. The English online version was "Survey: Most Israeli Jews support apartheid regime in Israel," and the print edition was likewise wrong and damaging: "Survey: Most Israeli Jews advocate discrimination against Arab citizens."

Today, this clarification appears in the Hebrew print edition:

It states (CAMERA's translation):

The wording of the front-page headline, "The majority of Israelis support apartheid in Israel" (Ha'aretz, Oct. 23), did not accurately reflect the findings of the Dialog poll. The question to which most respondents answered in the negative did not relate to the current situation, but to a hypothetical situation in the future: "If Israel annexes territories in Judea and Samaria, in your opinion, should 2.5 million Palestinians be given the right to vote for the Knesset?"

...A small correction buried on page five about a highly visible front-page headline does not do justice to the problem. Levy's articles about the poll continue to inflict damage on Israel's international image. The clarification, though important, does not begin to put out the fire. It's reasonable to assume that most of those who celebrated the initial erroneous reports have no clue that a clarification was printed.

Read the whole thing, including how this is a pattern at Ha'aretz.

I can say with certainty that the original "apartheid" article was instantly reproduced throughout the Arab media, and is still being reported as fact today.

This was the second false "apartheid" headline in less than two weeks; the first one was also clarified after the fact. And that false story - that the Israeli government officially admits that Jews are a minority ruling a majority hostile Arab population - was also instantly flashed across the world in Arabic, as well as in the West.

The amount of damage that Ha'aretz is knowingly causing the State of Israel is immense. They are so eager to paint their country as a horrid, racist entity that their vitriol often exceeds that of Arab publications themselves. The joke that Ha'aretz is Israel's Hebrew-language Arab newspaper is not far off from the truth.

Journalists must be cognizant of the impact of their words. In the cases of many Ha'aretz writers, like Gideon Levy, Akiva Eldar and Amira Hass, it appears that they are in fact quite aware of that impact - and that is exactly why they lie. Imagine the boost to their egos, knowing that the most absurd charges against Israel get immediately picked up as fact by newspapers worldwide!

As CAMERA notes, Ha'aretz' editors need to be held accountable for this sickening habit of twisting facts to fit a pre-existing agenda hostile to the state and people of Israel. Israelis know this - that is why Ha'aretz' circulation is a fraction of those of the top three Israeli papers, and its website is ranked a dismal 7th among Israeli news sites.

However, news media worldwide that rely on Ha'aretz as a reliable news source must be made aware of what Israelis know - that Ha'aretz is acting more like a propaganda rag than a respectable newspaper.

UPDATE: A longer correction, written by Levy, ridiculously claims that the lies "were not made intentionally, but as a result of neglect due to time pressure." He then goes on to defend his bias and his conclusions.

Keep in mind that the poll was done over five weeks before the story was published.

The famous Guggenheim Museum in New York has a blog that says it "tells the Guggenheim’s evolving story, and offers insights on vis...

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